The Mechanics of Hidden Machines
by HeroxPartnerfan96
Summary: After an all nighter of playing her favourite game, May can't help but wonder: how do HMs work in the real world? She decides to run a few tests to find out and enlists Drew's help. What could possibly go wrong? Everything.
1. The HM Hypothesis

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 1: The HM Hypothesis**

In Ecruteak City, it was near-midnight and all of the residents of said city had all turned in long ago, while the night sky was clear as ever with stars shining brightly and the full moon in clear view. In the nearby Pokemon Centre in the centre of the city, all of the Trainers that were staying over for the night were in their rooms and were sound asleep which meant that all was peaceful.

That was, all except for May Maple.

What was May doing still wide awake at this unholy hour of the night? The answer was very simple: she was relaxing on her bed with her handheld system and playing one of her favourite games, which was, of all things, a Pokemon game. The name of the game was Omega Ruby. May loved the game like crazy; when she wasn't busy training her Pokemon for an upcoming Contest or looking around at the local shops of whatever town she was in, she had her nose and eyes on the game at every opportunity she got.

In fact, simply describing how often she would play the game as loving it would be the understatement of the century; if anything, it seemed that May was obsessed with the game, and from her view on the matter, she had every right to be. Everything about the game just worked, from the gameplay to the music, everything seemed to come together to make this brilliant gem of a game.

In spite of all of this, there was one particular feature that had caught May's attention as of late, and that was the Hidden Machines, or HMs for short. While she knew how the HMs worked in the games, there was something she couldn't help herself wondering about, and it was one simple question:

How did the HMs translate into the real world?

Initially, May didn't think too much about it as she knew that things in the virtual world were very different from reality. But the more she thought about it, the more she became genuinely interested in finding out about it. And then, in that one moment of brilliance, a light-bulb seemed to go off in May's head and she sat up in her bed.

"I have an idea!" she happily commented, seemingly unaware of how loud she actually was. She then quickly covered her mouth as soon as she realised this, but much to her relief, no one else in the Centre heard her declaration of excitement. With this, she switched off her game for the night and placed it on her bedside table before making herself comfortable in her bed and turning in to sleep; she couldn't wait to share her idea with the others the next morning.

Amazingly, morning came sooner than expected as the sun rose over the horizon and in the Pokemon Centre, Drew, Soledad and Harley were waiting for May out in the hallway sitting at one of the tables; she seemed to be taking longer than usual to get herself ready. Though, this wasn't all that surprising considering that this was May they were talking about and she usually always took a long time in the mornings. "So, what do you think could be keeping May so busy this morning?" Drew asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as he was wondering what it could be that was holding up his former rival; for quite a while now, he and May had become very close friends and they now got along better than they ever did in Hoenn or Kanto. One could be forgiven for wondering how they even got along so well given their past history.

"I'm not sure. When I went to check on her to see if everything was okay, she said that she had something she wanted to share with us. I wonder what it could be, though." Soledad replied, placing a hand under her chin as she was wondering what May had to share.

Just then, the door of the room May was staying in suddenly swung open and the brunette in question stepped out fully dressed before closing the door behind her, even though to the others, it looked like she had accidently slammed the door; they were mostly glad she hadn't broken the door off its hinges yet, though Harley was still counting the days. "Hey, guys! Thanks for waiting for me." May cheerfully said, walking over to where the others were sitting.

"So, May, what was it you wanted to share with us?" Soledad asked, as she and the others turned their glances to May, all of them sharing the same thought of wondering what kind of idea May had in mind if she went through the trouble of organising this little meeting in the first place. May arrived at the table the little group were sitting at, and pulled the chair that was at the head back, before making herself comfortable in the seat and turning her attention to the small group.

"Everyone, thank you all for coming. The reason I called you here this morning is because I have something I would like to suggest. You all know how I'm usually up late at night playing my new favourite game?" May asked. There was silence from the others for at least a few seconds before the reception came through: Drew started to shake his head in silence, Soledad showed a smile of amusement and Harley could only stare with his mouth wide open.

"Let me guess: you've been up late at night playing your game again? This is the fourth week in a row now. I'm surprised you're still able to catch up on your eight hours at this rate." Drew stated, looking up at May in disbelief. "And I'm even more surprised you've been playing it for that long. It's almost as if you've become attached to it." Harley agreed, showing a cheeky smile before he burst into laughter while Drew and Soledad stared at him in bewilderment. May didn't seem all that amused by this comment, because she showed an expression of annoyance at Harley's immaturity.

"Oh, very funny, Harley!" May snapped. But unsurprisingly, Harley payed no attention to May's annoyance of him, because he fell off his chair laughing like silly at his comment. May stared at him in disbelief before she let out a sigh of dismay, as she began to wonder how she even had the patience to deal with his childishness. But she decided that it would be best not to dwell on that and turned to her attention back to Drew and Soledad, the only sane two in this group. "As I was saying, I have been playing the game for a while now. And there's something that came to my attention: the HMs in the game. I've started to think about how the HMs could work in our world, and so that comes to why I've called you all here. I'm going to run a few tests to see how the HMs work in the real world, and I would like one of you to be my assistant. So, who would like to help me out?" May asked, standing up from her chair and pacing around the table while Drew and Soledad followed their glance as they watched her, before she came back to the head and placed her hands on the table to explain her idea, and then looking around to see who would want to volunteer to assist her with her tests. She had already mentally ruled out Harley, so that left a choice between Drew and Soledad.

Silence filled the air as the group around looked at each other, like they were registering what it was that May had suggested. But then, the silence was broken by Harley, as he resumed his laughing frenzy as he had collapsed on the floor while May, Drew and Soledad turned their glances down to him, to which May showed an expression of annoyance; there was a reason she mentally ruled him out for this in advance. She then looked up at the other two, wanting to know what their response to her suggestion would be.

Drew and Soledad both looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before they turned their glances back to May. "Thanks, but I'll pass." Soledad kindly replied, before she stood up from her chair and walked off, making sure to avoid stepping on Harley in the process. May and Drew both watched her leave, before May turned her head to realise something; Harley had already made his answer clear, while Soledad had declined as well. But Drew was still sitting here with her, which could only mean one thing...

"Drew... you'll be my assistant?" May asked, with a bright smile slowly showing on her face. Drew stared in surprise upon hearing this, but before he could have a chance to answer, May jumped up from her seat in excitement. "Yay, that's great! Thank you so much! I knew there'd be someone would be willing to help me out even though they knew how crazy my idea was." May excitedly said, before she pulled Drew close to her in a hug to show her gratitude.

Drew stared blankly, blinking for a few seconds before he lifted his glance up to her, as he wanted to set the record straight before she got too carried away. "Uh, May? I didn't actually say I'd help..." Drew started, but unfortunately, May was too wrapped up in her joy that he would help to pay any attention to him, and then she let go of him before she started to twirl around the room from delight.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun! We'll get to try out the mechanic of the HMs and find out how they work, and if we get a chance, we might even try out the TMs. This is going to be the best next few days ever!" May happily commented, while Drew watched her in silence, wondering when she was going to give him the chance to speak and she would actually hear him out. But it seemed that chance wasn't going to come anytime soon as May finally stopped twirling around to turn her head to him.

"Thanks so much, Drew! I'll be down in the Ilex Forest so we can start our tests. See you there, assistant!" May said, before she turned and made her way out of the Pokemon Centre; she couldn't wait to get started. What she didn't notice was Drew standing there like a sitting duck, trying to register the fact that he had been signed on to this little 'idea' of hers and she didn't even give him a chance to have his say on the matter, not that she was going to pay attention to him to begin with.

"May..." Drew started before he noticed that she had already gone; she was probably on her way to the Ilex Forest by now. Drew stared in stunned silence for a few seconds before he let out a sigh of dismay and lowered his glance down to the floor, now fully realising what he had been signed up for against his will.

"What have I gotten myself into now?" Drew asked himself. But he figured that now wasn't the time to be worrying about his own troubles, as he had something else to worry about for now. So with that, he started to head off towards the Ilex Forest where he was sure that May would be waiting for him, looking forward to starting her tests.


	2. Not-So-Handy Cutting

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 2: Not-So-Handy Cutting**

As Drew found himself arriving into the Ilex Forest, he started to look around wondering where May could be. After a few seconds of walking, he spotted her sitting on the grass and leaning against a tree waiting for him to arrive; judging from the fact that her eyes were closed, Drew could only guess that she had taken a nap while she was waiting. "May, I'm here." Drew said, as he walked over to her waiting spot. May opened her eyes from surprise upon hearing that voice, and she turned her head to see Drew having just arrived.

"Oh, Drew! Glad you made it." May happily commented, a smile coming to her face as she jumped up onto her feet, ready to get started on the tests. "Before we get started, I should probably tell you how this whole thing will work. Please make sure to pay attention to this, because I won't say it twice." May said, with a firm expression coming to her face near the end of the sentence just so she would make sure that Drew was aware of how much of a big deal she considered this to be.

Drew nearly jumped from surprise seeing how seriously she was taking this whole thing, but since he figured it would be best to just go along for the ride for the time being, he nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I hear you. I'm listening to you loud and clear, so let's hear what the basics of this are." Drew replied. That reply seemed to do the job, because May's firm expression was quickly replied with a bright smile.

"Great! Then let's do this." May cheerfully stated. Drew was left in staring in silence that May was calmed down that quickly, but then he let out a sigh of relief that he had been holding in; at least he knew that May seemed to know what she was doing. With this, May cheerfully turned to face one of the trees in front of them. "Okay then, first things first, the first HM we're going to test is Cut." May stated, while Drew nearly jumped from surprise at the fact that they were already getting started.

"Hold on a second, May! I thought we were going to go over what we needed to do first." Drew blurted. May showed a cheeky smile at this comment and then she turned around to him. "I know I said that, but then I realised that explaining it would take up too much of our time, so I thought it would be better to just get started. After all, there is no better way to learn than by doing!" May cheerfully replied before letting a cheerful giggle. Drew was only left in staring in silence at the realisation that May was getting a bit too ahead of herself with this, but he decided not to bring that to her attention. Once that was taken care of, May grabbed one of her Pokeballs from her bag and lifted it up towards the sky.

"With all of that taken care of, let the testing begin! Blaziken, come on out!" May announced before throwing the Pokeball, which opened and released Blaziken, who landed on the grass in front of her. "All right, Blaziken, use Cut!" May said, pointing to the tree that she had selected as her target. However, she was met with silence as Blaziken stared at the tree for a few seconds before turning his head to her, like he was wondering what he was supposed to do. May showed an expression of bewilderment and pointed frantically at the tree. "Come on, don't just stand there! Cut that tree down! Doesn't Slash basically do the same thing?" May snapped, showing an expression of annoyance as she couldn't figure out why this wasn't going anywhere for her. Drew simply stared in silence at this before he figured that since he was May's assistant for this, he could at the very least give her some assistance like he was supposed to.

"Uh, May? Just as a helpful bit of advice, why don't you try using a Grass Pokemon instead?" Drew suggested. May showed an expression of surprise at this advice, and then a bright smile crossed her face as it suddenly seemed to make sense to her, and then she snapped her fingers as an idea came into her head.

"That's it! If I can get a Grass Pokemon to show Blaziken how it's done, then Blaziken will be able to do the same thing." May stated. Drew could only wonder how May managed to jump to that conclusion, but at least he knew that she was close to getting the right idea. Almost as if on cue, the two turned their heads to notice an Oddish walking through the tall grass nearby. The Oddish looked around to find the grass was too thick for it to see where it was going, so it jumped up into the air and slashed the grass with the leaves on the top of its head, causing the grass to be chopped in half. After witnessing that demonstration, May turned her head to Blaziken. "See, Blaziken? That's how it's done. Now let's give it a try ourselves." May said, pointing to the tree to give this another go. With this, Blaziken turned to the tree and his claws started to glow bright white.

Drew took a few steps back just to be on the safe side, as he didn't want to be around in case this didn't go well. Blaziken then leapt forward and slashed at the tree, and there was only a few seconds to wait before there was a visible clean cut near the bottom of the tree and the rest started to come loose from where it was cut. Upon seeing this, May showed a big smile and jumped up into the air in victory. "Yes! It worked! Our first HM test is a success!" she cheered. Blaziken cheered along with her, while Drew showed a bright smile seeing that it was actually a success. But as he turned his glance up, an expression of worry quickly crossed his face.

"May, I hate to interrupt while you're celebrating, but you might want to look at that!" Drew said, pointing at the scene in front of him. May turned her head to Drew, wondering what was wrong, and then she looked back to find out what he was worrying about and she let out a gasp of shock at the sight: the tree she had cut down slowly toppled over and started to knock down a line of trees in front of them, causing all of them to fall onto the ground like dominoes. May and Drew simply stared in shock before May smiled nervously.

"Oops... I don't think that was supposed to happen." May commented as she started to scratch the back of her head nervously. Drew simply stared at her with his arms crossed and an expression of annoyance, wondering if she even stopped to think about what she was doing. But before the two could do anything, they heard buzzing coming in their direction and were met with a large horde of Beedrill hovering towards them, none of them all that thrilled that May had knocked down their homes, along with Kakuna bouncing beside them. The two Coordinators stared at the large horde with matching expressions of worry, before May turned her head to Drew. "Is it... too late to apologize?" she worriedly asked.

"What do you think?! Run for it!" Drew blurted in response, before the two started to run for their lives with the horde chasing after them. One thing was for certain, May was going to make sure she didn't cause an incident as big as this in her future HM tests.


	3. Art of Taking Flight

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 3: Art of Taking Flight**

Sometime later, May and Drew sat down on the ground trying to catch their breaths after their long run out of the Ilex Forest; they had managed to get away from the horde of Beedrill and Kakuna, and they were taking a few minutes to rest before they got moving again. "Oh... finally... we managed to get away... For a second, I thought they were going to catch us." May gasped, struggling to breathe after having to run for as long as she had to. She then turned her head to Drew, who had placed a hand on his chest to make sure he hadn't gotten a heart attack. "That'll be the last time I use a forest as a practice arena; I'll stick to something small like grass." May commented, showing a bright smile at that statement to show that she would learn from her mistake.

After taking a few moments to ensure his heart rate had returned to a regular rhythm, Drew lifted his head up and turned to May showing an expression of worry. "So, May, which HM are you planning to try out next?" he asked. So far, they had only done one test and Drew felt certain that he would have a heart attack from it; he was really hoping that May's next test would be less tiring on him. Fortunately, his prayers were answered as May stood up showing a bright smile.

"We're going to try out Fly now. That one should be easy, because all we need is a Pokemon that can fly." May replied. As soon as Drew heard that explanation, a smile of immense relief crossed his face and he stood up before nodding in agreement without hesitance.

"That should be easy enough." Drew commented. May then started to look around the area they were standing at, scratching her head as she was trying to think while Drew watched her in surprise.

"All right, let's think. What would be a good Pokemon we can use for this?" May asked herself, showing an expression of puzzlement as she was busy trying to think of a Pokemon to use as a test subject. Drew was about to speak up and suggest they use his Flygon, but then May showed a bright smile and clicked her fingers as an idea came to mind. "That's it! I know just the thing." May exclaimed. Drew listened intently, with a hopeful smile that May had the same thought as he did. Unfortunately, that was a hope that died fast as May turned her head to him. "Wait here; I'll be right back." May said, before she rushed off to find the Pokemon she had in mind for this.

"May? May, wait!" Drew yelled out. But he went unheard as May had already left, prompting him to let out a sigh of dismay. "Why is it that my ideas are being ignored by her? It's like she has her own idea of how to do this." Drew commented to himself; with the way May was doing this, it was making him wonder why she made him her assistant if she was capable of doing this by herself. But he decided not to worry about this and walked over to sit down on the ground and lean against a tree so he could wait for May to return. "Hopefully she shouldn't be too long." Drew stated as he made him comfortable; if he knew May, she was sure to come back quick.

Some time passed and Drew had fallen asleep while he was waiting. But then, he heard what sounded like cooing coming in his direction, and he opened his eyes and sat up to be met with this sight: May was being dragged along the ground and she was holding onto the legs of a Hoothoot that was visibly struggling to carry her, as it was flapping its small wings frantically and seemed to be straining from her weight. "May?" Drew asked, with an expression of shock coming to his face at the site in front of him. Once she was in front of him, May let go of Hoothoot's legs, prompting the little owl Pokemon to drop from the air and land in her arms, and she showed a bright smile.

"Hey, I'm back!" May cheerfully greeted. Drew slowly stood up still staring in shock at the Hoothoot that was now taking heavy breaths as it was struggling to recover from having to carry May back here. May seemed to notice Drew's shock, because she showed an expression of surprise. "Drew, what's the matter?" she asked.

Drew was silent for a few moments, trying to find the right words to express his feelings on what he had just seen, and then he quietly took a deep breath as he didn't want to lose his temper from this. Once he made sure that his feelings of frustration were at bay, he turned his glance up to May. "May... where did you find that Hoothoot?" he quietly asked, doing his best to not lose it right away. May stared in surprise before looking down at Hoothoot in her arms.

"Oh, you mean this little guy? I caught him in the Ilex Forest. Pretty cute, isn't he?" May cheerfully asked with a bright smile. Drew then looked down to see Hoothoot still trying to catch its breath, and then placed a hand on his temple before he continued. "Did you, by any chance, use Hoothoot to fly all the way from the Ilex Forest to here?" Drew asked. There was no hesitance of a reply from May because she immediately nodded with a big smile.

"Yep, that's right! It's amazing he was able to hold that out for that long." May replied. Drew could only stare in disbelief at this answer before he let out a sigh of dismay, and slowly shook his head while May watched him in surprise. "Why, is something wrong?" she asked.

"May... I don't think small Pokemon like Hoothoot should be used for long travels. I mean, look how exhausted it is! You should try using a bigger Pokemon that can support your weight without tiring out." Drew explained. May stared in silence for a few moments before she quickly shook her head in response.

"Nonsense, Drew! Hoothoot can carry me around just fine. After all, I managed to get back here without any problems, right?" she asked. Drew could only stare in shock at this reply, but before he had the chance to say any more, May looked down to Hoothoot and held onto its legs. "Come on, Hoothoot, off we go to Ecruteak City!" May stated, pointing forward in the direction to get to Ecruteak City. With this, Hoothoot started flapping its wings frantically and set off slowly dragging May as she was barely being lifted off the ground. "I'll see you back at Ecruteak City. You might want to start catching up if you want to beat me there!" May said, turning her head to Drew and waving to him before she looked back at the road ahead to her and held onto Hoothoot's legs as it slowly dragged her along.

Drew simply stared with his mouth wide open in disbelief before he slowly lowered his head and let out a long sigh of dismay. "This is going to be a long few days..." Drew sighed to himself. He could only pray that by the end of this, his sanity wouldn't fly out the window.


	4. Surf's Up, Down and All Around

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 4: Surf's Up, Down and All Around**

After what seemed to be a while of walking, Drew finally found himself arriving back in Ecruteak City. He then looked over his shoulder to notice that May wasn't behind him; he noticed that while he was walking, he hadn't spotted her being dragged along at all. "I wonder where she could have gone off to... Maybe she realised that she wouldn't get anywhere using a Hoothoot to bring her here and decided to walk the rest of the way. It shouldn't be too long until she gets here." Drew commented to himself, with the image of May using a small Hoothoot to get to Ecruteak City, even though it was clear as day that the little Pokemon couldn't support her weight, still clear in his memory. As he made his way over to the Pokemon Centre, he noticed a note taped to the side of the building and grabbed it off to read it. Much to his surprise, it was from May.

 _Hi, Drew!_

 _If you're reading this, I already made it back before you. I guess Hoothoot is a lot stronger than I expected it to be._

 _Anyway, I'm getting ready to test out the next HM on the list: Surf. Meet me down at the coast at Olivine City._

 _See you soon!_

 _May_

After taking a few seconds to look over at the letter, Drew could only stare in shock; how May managed to make it here before him while using a Hoothoot of all Pokemon as her mode of transportation was beyond him. His only guess was that she had gotten to Hoothoot to do something extreme that he didn't even want to think about.

"Well, I guess I should start making my way over here." Drew commented to himself, placing the note in one of the pockets of his jackets for safekeeping so he would remember where to meet May. Once that was taken care of, he grabbed out one of his Pokeballs and threw it into the air, which opened and released Flygon who landed on the ground in front of him. With that, Drew climbed up onto Flygon's back while the Pokemon turned his glance to him. "Come on, Flygon, we need to get to Olivine City. That's where May's waiting for me." Drew said. Flygon nodded in understand and started to flap his wings to get up into the air, accidently kicking up dirt on the ground in the process, before he got high enough and started to soar off to make his way towards Olivine City.

Meanwhile on the Olivine Coast, May was sitting on the sand as she was waiting for Drew to show up, and she was moving her legs back and forth while she grabbed sand in her hands before letting it slip through her fingers with her patience starting to wear thin. "Oh, where could he be? I thought he would have made it here by now; why did I make him my assistant if he can't keep up with me?" May asked herself, showing an expression of annoyance as she was wondering what could be taking Drew so long. But after a few seconds, she heard the sound of footprints behind her and she immediately showed a bright smile before jumping up on her feet and spun right around to see Drew walking over to her. "Drew, there you are! I was getting worried you wouldn't show up." May happily commented.

Drew simply showed a nervous smile as he walked over before he came face to face with May. "Well, I am your assistant, aren't I? There was no way I was going to leave you to do this by yourself." Drew replied. May showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement.

"And that's exactly why I made you my assistant, because I know I can count on you to turn up for whatever crazy idea that I come up with." May cheerfully replied. Drew stared at her in surprise before he showed a nervous smile, though he was still wondering if he should tell May that she was getting a little too carried away with this idea, even for her. But he decided against it seeing how much fun she was having with this, so the two made their way over to the edge of the coast where they could see small waves splashing against the beach. "All right then, the next HM we're going to try out is Surf. And for that, we're going to need a Water Type. Luckily, I have that covered." May explained, turning around to Drew before holding up one of her Pokeballs she grabbed from her belt. She then threw it up in the air, causing it to open and release Wartortle who landed on the sand in front of them with a bright smile on her face.

"Well, it's nice to see that May finally has the right idea about what she's doing." Drew commented to himself, showing a smile of relief that May was figuring out what Pokemon she should actually use for these tests. However, it seemed that May wasn't quite versed in the execution phase of her tests just yet, because she then bent down and picked Wartortle up by the shell while Drew watched in surprise. "Never mind I said anything." Drew then quickly added, as he had a feeling that he knew where this was going.

"All right, Wartortle, let's go! Surf's up!" May cheered before she started to run towards the ocean with Wartortle staring with an expression of shock on her face as the realization of what she was helping her Trainer with hit her, and she started to shake her head rapidly as she didn't want to get involved with this. But it seemed that it was too late for objectives as May leapt into the air and landed in the water, and there was silence for a few moments before she emerged from the surface holding onto Wartortle.

"May, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Drew called as he stood up and rushed over upon seeing May holding onto Wartortle's shell like a floaty board. May turned her head to Drew and nodded with a bright smile giving him an 'all good' signal with her fingers. "Of course I do! I'm all set, and all I need to do is wait for the waves to come in." May cheerfully replied. Drew was left staring in stunned silence once he heard that as it didn't take him to realise what that would mean for Wartortle.

With May, she was left floating on the surface for a few minutes as she kept an eye out for any incoming waves. "Come on, it shouldn't be too hard to find waves in this area." May commented to herself, showing an expression of annoyance as she was wondering what was taking so long for any waves to start showing up. She had a look around for a few moments, and then a bright smile crossed her face when she noticed a wave coming in her direction. "Perfect! That's just the one I'm looking for. Come on, Wartortle. Let's aim straight for that wave!" May said, turning her glance to her Pokemon and pointing to the wave that was coming towards them. Wartortle stared at May in alarm for a few moments before she decided that it would be best not to question what May was up to and started to kick her legs rapidly so she could get swimming, though it wasn't exactly easy given the fact that May was now holding onto her tail and was starting to weigh her down quite a bit.

While this was happening, Drew sat down on the sand so he could keep an eye on May and make sure she knew what she was doing, even though that since this was May he was talking about, he could never figure out what went through that brunette's head. "Sometimes, she just makes no sense to me..." Drew sighed, slowly shaking his head as he knew that despite May's eccentricity at times, that was something he really enjoyed about her.

Back with May, she and Wartortle started to scale the wave as it crashed down behind them. "All right, we're all set! Now's my chance to do this." May cheered. Now that she had everything set up, there was just one more thing for her to do to make this a success. She grabbed hold of Wartortle's shell and started to climb up onto it while the Pokemon bit down on her lip as she was trying to manage with May weighing down on her. Once that step was done, May slowly placed her feet on Wartortle's shell and started to stand up, which was proved to be a difficult feat as she was trying to maintain her balance, but after a few moments, May found herself standing upright on top of Wartortle. "Yes! The Surf test is a success!" May cheered, raising both her fists into the air in excitement at her success.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Wartortle was struggling to manage with May standing on her shell, as she collapsed in the water, leaving May to splash down into the ocean as the wave crashed down over her. As Drew was watching this from the coast, he showed an expression of shock at the sight and quickly stood up. "May!" Drew gasped, with an expression of worry crossing his face as he wasn't sure if May was alright or not. But after a few seconds, Drew was met with the reliving sight of May's head popping up from under the water's surface, causing him to slowly show a bright smile and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of his new friend safe and sound.

May didn't seem to be phased at all, because she turned her head to Drew seeing him and happily waved to him. "That was so much fun! Would you like to have a turn, Drew?" May called, grabbing Wartortle and holding her up as she was floating on the surface and struggling to catch her breath as the labour she had to endure while trying to carry May on her shell.

Drew stared in stunned silence at May's suggestion before he let out a sigh of annoyance and slowly shook his head; it was obvious that May wasn't making things easy for him to manage. "I think I'd prefer to go look for some lunch instead..." Drew replied.

That idea seemed to work great with May, because she quickly rushed out of the water and made her way back to Olivine City, carrying Wartortle with her, while Drew stared for a few moments before he slowly followed after her, wondering if the next test would be any easier for him.


	5. Size Doesn't Matter

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 5: Size Doesn't Matter**

Once they arrived back in Olivine City, May and Drew managed to find a small cafe where they could take a break from their tests and have some lunch; Drew considered himself lucky that he made the suggestion in the first place, since he suspected that May had been unknowingly working herself up an appetite from running around all morning. Sure enough, his intuition was proven correct when he turned his glance up to see May munching away on the pasta dish she had ordered for herself. Drew simply showed a smile of amusement to himself, as he was unable to make sense of the fact that May was munching away this fast, but she hadn't made a mess on the table. After a few seconds, May lifted her head up to show that her lips were smeared with pasta sauce, but she simply licked it off with a big smile. "Mmmm! This is delicious! I'm glad you made the call to grab some lunch, because I know I probably would have forgotten about it. I guess we've both been so busy with the tests that I didn't realise how hungry I was getting." May commented. She then let out a cheerful giggle before she resumed eating, seemingly not noticing that Drew was simply watching her instead of having the dish he ordered. The reason for this was because Drew was trying to think about what test May had in mind next, before he turned his glance down to her, figuring that it would be best to ask her since she was the one in control of their operations.

"So, May. When we're done here, what HM are we trying out next?" Drew asked. May lifted her head up to him with an expression of surprise as she had a mouth full of pasta, before she swallowed it down in one gulp so she could answer his question, while he simply stared at her in disbelief wondering how that was even possible.

"Oh, that's easy! The next HM on the list is Strength, and then we'll be halfway through the list before we're done!" May cheerfully replied. Drew didn't take long to recover from his disbelief of having witnessed May swallow down her mouth full of pasta without any problems, because he slowly showed a bright smile and nodded in understanding. He figured that testing that HM would be pretty simple, considering that all they needed was a Pokemon that would be strong enough to push large boulders, and he knew for sure that May had quite a few of those at her disposal. He then watched as May finished off her dish before she jumped up from her seat, ready to get started. "Well, I'm good to go. Are you going to finish your lunch, Drew?" she asked, turning her head to see that Drew had barely touched his meal; he had ordered a mixed berry salad with dressing. Drew glanced down at his dish in surprise before he shook his head in response.

"No, I'm good." Drew replied. He then nearly jumped from surprise as May quickly grabbed the bowl for herself. "Oh, well. I guess that means more for me!" May cheerfully commented. Without any hesitance on her part, May grabbed the fork that had been included with Drew's dish and started effortlessly munching down on it. Drew stared in stunned silence with only one question running through his head: how much could May fit into her stomach? He knew that she was a pretty big eater, but he had a feeling that she could get a little carried away sometimes. After a few seconds, he noticed that the bowl had been placed back in front of him, completely empty, and he saw May let out a content sigh as she placed a hand over her stomach; it was safe to say that she had her full serve of lunch for the day.

"Ah... now that was delicious! Should we get a move on, then?" May asked, turning her glance down to Drew when she noticed that he was still in his seat. Drew was left staring for a few seconds before he nodded and got out of his seat so he could join May. "All right, let's move! Our next stop is Cianwood City." May happily stated. With this, she grabbed one of her Pokeballs and threw it up into the air, which opened and released Wartortle. Once Wartortle was out of her Pokeball, May picked her up by her shell and started to make her way over to the coast while Drew followed right behind her.

"Uh... May? Isn't it a bad idea to swim just after you've eaten?" Drew asked, showing an expression of concern as May placed Wartortle on the surface of the water before climbing onto her shell to sit. Once that was taken care of, May turned her head to Drew and showed a bright smile as she giggled at Drew's concern.

"We're not going to swim to Cianwood City, silly. We'll surf there; we're going to use Wartortle to get there. Come on, hop on!" May replied, tapping a small empty area on Wartortle's shell for Drew to join her. Drew could only stare in stunned silence, not only noticing just how little room there was on Wartortle's shell, but also the fact that Wartortle was visibly struggling to carry May on her back. If just May sitting on her was already making things hard, he didn't want to think about what would happen if he joined them. But once he took the time to think about what he had been signed up for, he figured that he had just stopped questions the minute May said that he was going to help her out with this, so he walked over and sat down on Wartortle's shell beside May, to which the brunette turned her head and pointed forward towards the ocean. "All right, to Cianwood City we go! Hi ho, Wartortle away!" May cheered. With this, Wartortle stated to kick against the water's surface rapidly, struggling to swim as she was trying to carry May and Drew at the same time, something that was most certainly no easy feat for her.

After what felt like an hour, maybe even longer in Drew's mind, the two arrived on the coast of Cianwood City and they jumped off Wartortle's shell as she collapsed on the sand, struggling to catch her breath. May turned to Wartortle with a bright smile and held her Pokeball up. "Thanks for the help, Wartortle!" May said, before returning Wartortle into her Pokeball. Once that was taken care of, she turned her head to Drew with her smile growing brighter. "Come on, let's get a move on!" she happily stated, before she rushed off ahead to find the cave entrance leading to the Safari Zone. Drew watched for a few seconds before he followed after her.

Soon the two arrived in the cave and as they were walking, Drew noticed that May was looking around for something, with a firm expression on her face as she was trying to find just the thing she was looking for. "So what are we looking for exactly?" Drew asked. May nearly jumped from surprise hearing Drew from behind her, and then she turned her head to him with a bright smile.

"We're trying to find a large boulder, something that would be big enough for us to try out Strength." May replied. Drew simply nodded in understanding, figuring that shouldn't be too difficult, so May turned her head back to the road in front of her to continue looking. After a few seconds, something seemed to catch May's eye because her smile quickly grew in size from excitement. "Look at that! That's just the one we're looking for." May exclaimed before running off ahead. Drew showed an expression of surprise seeing May rush off ahead of him, so he started to pick up his pace to try and catch up with her, but quickly stopped dead in his tracks when he saw just what it was May had spotted: it was a massive boulder that looked like it was about ten times her size. "What do you think?" May asked, turning her head to Drew to hear his reception.

Drew could only stare with his mouth dropped open in disbelief, and he was struggling to find the right words to express his thoughts on this. But after a few seconds, he slowly turned his glance to May. "Uh... May? I'm not sure if you'll agree with me on this, but... isn't this going a little too far?" Drew asked, obviously struggling to find the proper way to word this. May stared at him in surprise for a few seconds before she showed a bright smile and shook her head.

"Of course not! This boulder is just the one I'm looking for. And now it's time to get on with the test." May replied, grabbing one of her Pokeballs from her belt and throwing it into the air. "Come on out, Eevee! I'll need your help here!" May said. After a few seconds, the Pokeball opened and released Eevee, who shook herself rapidly before turning her head up to her Trainer with a bright smile. "All right, Eevee, I'm going to need you to lift that boulder over there." May said, bending down to her little Pokemon before pointing to the large boulder. Eevee slowly turned around to see what she had to lift, and nearly jumped from shock when she saw the large boulder with an expression of worry coming to her face. Drew seemed to take notice of this as well, because he walked over to see if he could make a different suggestion.

"May? I'm not sure if Eevee is the right Pokemon to use for this. Maybe you should use a Pokemon that can carry their own weight." Drew suggested. May showed an expression of surprise at this, and then she stood up before turning around to face Drew with an expression of annoyance coming to her face.

"Are you trying to say that Eevee can't lift up things heavier than it?" May asked. Drew nearly jumped at this accusation before he rapidly shook his head in response. "What?! No! I'm just saying that maybe this will be a bit too heavy for Eevee to manage." Drew replied.

May didn't seem too thrilled with this reply as she crossed her arms with an expression of annoyance on her face. "You know, Drew? I think maybe you underestimate how strong Eevee can be. It may be small, true, but I'm sure it's a lot stronger than you think it is. I mean, why would I ask it to help me out with this test?" May asked. Before Drew could get a chance to reply, the two heard something behind them and turned their heads to see Eevee balancing the large boulder on its tail with little effort. May quickly showed a big smile of awe while Drew could only stare in shock, completely unable to figure out how this was possible. "All right, Eevee! Great job!" May cheered. As she ran over to the little Pokemon, Drew started to take a few steps backwards, figuring that now would be a good time to get out of here while he still had the chance.

As Eevee placed the boulder back down on the ground, she looked up to see May running over to her with a bright smile. "Great job, Eevee! That test is a success!" May happily commented, while Eevee showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement. "See, Drew? I told you that Eevee would be able to do it." May said, turning her head to Drew. But then an expression of surprise came to her face when she saw that Drew wasn't standing where she last saw him. In fact, he was basically nowhere to be seen in the cave. May stood up and started to dart her head back and forth in puzzlement, wondering where her rival could have gone off to.

"Drew? Drew? Where did you go?"


	6. Lighting Up My Eyes

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 6: Lighting Up My Eyes**

Drew was running towards the Pokemon Centre; he had already made it out of the cave while May wasn't looking and he didn't want to be around for the rest of her tests. He had been tolerant of her antics up until now, but getting Eevee, a small Pokemon, to lift up a large boulder that was about ten times its size and manage to do it without any trouble at all, was the final straw for him. _'I do not want to be around if May wants to do the rest of her tests; I could manage what she's been doing so far, but this is going too far!'_ Drew thought to himself, as he was trying to place as much distance between himself and May as possible. It didn't take him long to arrive at the Pokemon Centre, so he quickly stepped inside as the door automatically opened to let him in, and he made his way over to one of the resting chairs in the lobby and lay down on it, with a smile of relief crossing his face. "Oh, finally... Hopefully I'll be safe for the time being." Drew commented, letting out a content sigh as he made himself comfortable to have a rest for the time being; he wasn't sure how much more madness he could manage in one day.

Meanwhile with May, she was walking through the city and looking around for any sign of Drew. "Drew? Drew, are you there?" she asked. When she didn't receive any answer after a few seconds, she let out a sigh before turning her head to look forward again. "I don't get it. Where could he have gone off to? I know he couldn't be too far." May commented to herself. As she was looking around, she noticed the Pokemon Centre and a bright smile crossed her face as an idea came to her head. "Of course, the Pokemon Centre is always the place I can turn to if I need help..." May said to herself. With this, she walked over to have a look inside the Pokemon Centre for Drew.

Inside the Pokemon Centre, Drew had made himself comfortable on one of the laying chairs in the lobby; he was having a rest after all the madness he had to endure over the course of only a few hours, and it seemed that he had actually fallen asleep. In fact, as Drew was enjoying his nap, he didn't hear the doors of the Pokemon Centre open, allowing May to step inside. As May had a look around, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and a bright smile crossed her face when she saw that in the lobby, there was Drew enjoying a nap on one of the resting chairs. "There he is!" May happily commented to herself. She had a closer look to see that he looked like he was sound asleep, so she started to sneak over with a cheeky smile slowly showing on her face as she made her way over to the chair Drew was at, before ducking down behind it so he wouldn't see her. Once she made sure that she was in a good hiding place, May covered her mouth to try and stifle her giggling.

"This is going to be so good!" May cheerfully commented to herself. She then slowly poked her head up with her cheeky smile growing bigger, seeing that Drew had no idea that she was even here. After a few seconds, May stood up and happily cheered "There you are!" As soon as Drew heard that, his eyes popped open and he slowly turned to come face to face with May staring at him with a big smile.

"Aaaah!" Drew immediately jumped from alarm and fell off the resting chair before landing on the floor, while May looked down to see him and burst into laughter. As Drew slowly sat up, he shook his head and rubbed it to make sure he hadn't hurt it badly, and then he turned his head to see May laughing at him with an expression of annoyance showing on his face. "May! I didn't even see you there! You could have given me a heart attack!" Drew snapped, before he started to stand up as he recovered from that tumble.

After a few seconds, May covered her mouth to try and hold in her laughter before she lifted her head up to look at Drew, noticing the expression of annoyance he was shooting in her direction. "Sorry about that, Drew. But... it was just too perfect! You should have seen your face! Oh, that was hilarious!" May cheekily replied, before she was unable to hold it in and resumed laughing while Drew simply stared at her in silence. Luckily, May started to calm down after a few seconds before she was able to speak. "So how come you came here, anyway? I didn't even notice you leave." May commented, an expression of puzzlement coming to her face as she started to wonder why Drew made his way over there on his own without her even noticing a thing.

Drew nearly stiffened up hearing this question and he glanced down nervously as he didn't want to mention the fact that he was feeling less than enthused about doing the rest of these tests, since he knew that May wouldn't be too thrilled if she learnt that. "Well..." Drew nervously started, while May watched him in surprise wondering what was wrong. But after a few seconds to think about what to do, Drew showed a smile before turning his glance to May. "We had been doing quite a few of these tests over the morning, so I figured that maybe we could use a rest before we got on to the rest of them. I didn't ask you about it because I had a feeling that you were still raring to do a few more, but I could really use a break before we move on to the rest of them." Drew nervously explained, silently hoping that May would believe him. Fortunately, it seemed that May wasn't too fazed by this because she showed a bright smile and nodded in understanding.

"I guess that makes sense. After all, I have been making us run back and forth quite a bit with all of this, so I guess it would wear you down after a while. It's just a shame that I didn't notice!" May replied, before she started to giggle to herself while Drew showed a smile of amusement seeing just how easily May could entertain herself. But after a few seconds, May calmed down and she turned her glance back to Drew. "But in all seriousness, I know what you mean. We could use a break after all the running around we've done this morning. Just... make sure to let me know, okay?" May asked. Drew showed a bright smile at this reply and nodded in agreement.

"Sure; I'll remember to do that." Drew replied. With this, the two sat down on the couch again to have a rest for a few minutes before they resumed the tests, and the two turned their heads to each other and brightly smiled; though they weren't saying it out loud, they were both having a fun time doing all of these tests during the day. After some time passed, the two headed out of the Pokemon Centre and stepped outside. "So what HM are we going to try out next?" Drew asked, turning his head to May. May happily spun around to face him with a big smile on her face.

"The next move on the list is Flash. To try that move, we'll need to find a dark cave, and luckily I know just the place for us to go: the Whirl Islands!" May happily replied. The second he heard that, Drew's smile slowly faded as he knew exactly what that meant; they had to ride on Wartortle's back to get there. Sure enough, he noticed that May was already grabbing out one of her Pokeballs, ready to go. "Come on, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!" May stated. With this, she started to walk off towards the coast, while Drew was left staring for a few moments before he followed behind her; to him, it seemed like this day just kept getting worse by the minute.

Sometime later after a long period of surfing on Wartortle's back, May and Drew found themselves arriving at the entrance of the Whirl Islands. "Well, here we are!" May commented. The two hopped off Wartortle's shell and started to make their way into the entrance while Wartortle slowly trailed behind him trying to catch her breath. As May and Drew stepped inside, they looked around to find that there was nothing but pitch blackness. "Wow... it's kind of hard to see in here, isn't it?" May asked, turning her glance to Drew while he nodded in agreement. "Luckily, I have just the way to counter that. Come on out, Blaziken!" May stated, showing a confident smile as she grabbed out one of her Pokeballs and throwing it into the air, causing it to open and release Blaziken. "All right, Blaziken, we're going to need some help. Let's light things up with Flamethrower!" May said. With this, Blaziken released a strong stream of fire from her mouth that shot forward and lit up the torches that were on the wall beside them, making things easier to see. Upon seeing this, May and Drew both showing matching bright smiles.

"All right! Now that's more like it." May happily commented. "I can't agree more on that." Drew said, as he and May turned their glances to each other. Just then, the two could hear the sound of screeching from nearby and started to look around in surprise. "What was that?" Drew asked. The two looked around for a few more moments before they noticed the source of the screeching: floating in front of them... was a large pack of Zubat that were all glaring at them. Seeing this, the two quickly showed expressions of worry.

"I nearly forgot something... there are always Zubat in one of these caves." May worriedly commented. Before the two could do anything else, the Zubat started to charge towards them leaving the two to scream in alarm. "Run for it!" May cried. Without a moment to spare, she and Drew started to make a run for it as the Zubat chased them down. As the two were running, they could agree on one thing they had no idea how to figure out and they both yelled it out in unison.

"Why are there so many Zubat in these caves?!"


	7. A Smashing Experience

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 7: A Smashing Experience**

May and Drew were rushing through the darkness of the cave as they were trying to escape from the swarm of Zubat following them. The two of them had lost track of how long they had been running for; all they knew for certain was that they had to find a way to avoid getting attacked by the Zubat. As the two were running away, Drew turned his head to notice the Zubat swarm chasing after them. "May, they're gaining on us! We have to find a way to get them off our backs." Drew called, showing an expression of worry that the Zubat were going to catch up to him and May sooner or later. As May turned her head to take notice of this, she turned back and started to look around to see if there was somewhere she and Drew could run to, her glance quickly fell on a ladder leading downwards nearby.

"Drew, this way! Follow me!" May stated, pointing in the direction of the ladder. Without a moment to spare, she turned to rush over to the ladder while Drew followed not far behind her and the two quickly scattered down the ladder towards the lower floor while the flock of Zubat flew right over the ladder, seemingly unaware that the two were gone. As they were sitting on the ground, May and Drew had stopped to catch their breath for a few moments.

"Do you… do you think we lost them?" Drew gasped, struggling to catch his breath from how long he and May had been running. Once she was certain that she would be able to stand properly, May slowly made her way up the ladder while Drew waited for her, and she poked her head up and slowly had a look around the area to find that the horde of Zubat was no longer anywhere in sight. Once she was certain that the coast was clear, she made her way back down to the ladder and turned to Drew, nodding in confirmation.

"Yep, they're gone. I think we're safe for the time being." May replied. Drew let out a sigh of relief once he heard this before standing up, since he was certain that he was feeling alright now. "Come on, we better get out of here before another horde comes chasing after us down here." May suggested. If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that she didn't want to stick around long enough to have another horde of Zubat come after them. Drew seemed to feel the same way as he nodded in agreement.

"That sounds like a plan to me." Drew agreed. So with this in mind, the two made their way up the ladder to the floor they started from and started to look around to see if they could find a way out of this cave. "So which way were we headed before the Zubat found us?" Drew asked, turning his head to May; since she was the one who said they should come here in the first place, he figured that maybe she could be the one to find a way out.

"Hmmm… let's see…" May murmured to herself, turning her head back and forth to try and figure out which way they were going. After a few seconds passed, she showed a bright smile and pointed to the right. "It was this way! Let's go!" May stated. So without a moment to spare, the two started to set off to look for a way out. However, it seemed that May wasn't exactly the best at finding her way around odd places like this because it seemed that the more they walked, the further away they were getting from finding the exit. May didn't seem to realise that there was a problem as she was walking, though, but Drew was quick to take notice as he stopped in his tracks and looked around in confusion before turning his head to May.

"May? Are you sure we're headed the right away?" Drew asked. May stopped in her tracks and turned to face Drew with an expression of surprise, wondering what he meant. "It doesn't look like we're getting anywhere in this cave." Drew added, as May walked over to where he was standing. May had a look around at their surroundings before she waved her hand in a dismissive motion with a confident smile on her face.

"Oh, you're worrying too much, Drew! I'm pretty sure I know exactly where we're going. We'll be out of here in no time!" May replied. Drew simply showed a raised eyebrow in response, showing that May wasn't exactly the most convincing or the most reassuring person in the world at the moment. May's smile slowly dropped upon seeing Drew's face; she could tell that he wasn't too convinced by what she was saying. "Okay… maybe I'm not _completely_ sure of where we're going…" May nervously added, rubbing the back of her head. Drew promptly crossed his arms in response.

"What gave that away?" Drew bluntly asked, showing an expression of annoyance at May's lack of awareness of where they were. May didn't take long to notice this, fortunately, as she let out a sigh of dismay before sitting on the ground and placing her arms on top of her knees, much to Drew's surprise; he didn't expect to see her get upset over this minor issue.

"Well, this is just great. Not only did I get us chased by wild Zubat, but I've also gotten us completely lost with no idea of how to find our way out. I guess this just hasn't been my day…" May sighed, lowering her head in dismay over the situation they were in. Drew could only watch her in surprise before turning his glance down in concern, seeing just how upset she was about what was happening. As he was trying to think of what he could do to help May feel better, his glance fell on a few stray small boulders that were scattered around the cave, and a smile slowly came to his face as he had an idea. So with this, he turned his head back to May and bent down to sit next to her and place a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, May? I think I might have found something." Drew said. May lifted her head up in surprise and turned to Drew to hear what he had found, and he simply pointed over to where the boulders were, which May turned her glance to take notice of. "I have a feeling this may be a perfect time to continue with those tests of ours. Don't you think so?" Drew asked, showing a confident smile as he was certain that would help May out. Sure enough, when May caught notice of the boulders just nearby, a bright smile slowly came to her face and she jumped up on her feet in excitement.

"Oh, of course! This is the perfect place to try out our test for Rock Smash. And I have just the Pokemon to do so!" May stated. She then grabbed out one of her Pokeballs from her bag and threw it up into the air. "All right, Eevee, let's go!" she called. As the Pokeball opened, it released Eevee who shook her head rapidly to even out her fur and she turned around to notice the small boulders. "Eevee, slam your tail against those small boulders!" May called. With this, Eevee charged forward towards the boulders and jumped up into the air, before spinning in the air rapidly and slamming her tail against one of the boulders, causing it to crack before shattering into small pieces. As soon as May saw this, she showed a smile of excitement before jumping up into the air with one fist facing upwards.

"All right! The Rock Smash test was a success!" May cheered. Eevee turned around to face May showing a bright smile, just as thrilled by this success as her Trainer was. As Drew walked over to her, May quickly turned around to face him. "How did you where to look for this?" she asked. Drew simply showed a confident smile in response before brushing a few loose strands of his hair back.

"Well, since we came to this face to take care of that test in the first place, I figured I'd give you a reminder so you wouldn't forget about it. You know, to take your mind off us being lost." Drew replied. May simply showed a bright smile before walking over to him while he watched in surprise.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that it worked. Thanks so much, Drew. I guess it's a good thing that I made you my assistant." May commented, showing a cheeky smile and giving a wink during this last statement. Drew could only stare in silence for a few moments before he showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement, since by this point, he had decided to stop arguing against it and just enjoy it. After all, this day had certainty been an adventure for him so far. While this was happening, Eevee started looking around while sniffing the air, while May and Drew both turned to her in surprise. "Eevee? What's up?" May asked. After a few seconds, Eevee turned her head to May and Drew before rushing off ahead. "Eevee! Where are you calling?" May called. However, her call fell on deaf ears as Eevee was already running off ahead, leaving the two Coordinators standing there in silence.

"Looks like Eevee has an idea of where she's going." Drew commented. He then turned his head to May as he added "We better follow before she gets lost like we are." May turned her head to him in surprise before she nodded in agreement, so without a moment to spare, the two started to give chase after the small Pokemon to catch up with her and find out where she was heading off to.


	8. Scaling The Uphill Battle

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 8: Scaling The Uphill Battle**

There were quite a few twists and turns throughout the cave as May and Drew were struggling to keep up with Eevee as she was rushing through the cave at what seemed to be top speed for her. As the two were trying to catch up with the small Pokemon, Drew turned his head to May. "Man, your Eevee really is a fast runner. Do you let her out of her Pokeball often?" Drew asked. May turned her glance up to think it over for a few moments, before she shook her head in response, while Drew could only stare in surprise.

"I don't think so. Eevee only usually tends to get like this when she has an idea of what she wants to do, and then she just takes off." May replied. Drew simply showed an expression of shock, since he was now feeling simply lost on just how Eevee could run that fast when she wasn't let out of her Pokeball very much. As the two turned their attention back to the path in front of them, May showed a bright smile as she could see light just up ahead. "Hey, look at that! I think that might be the way out!" May said, pointing just ahead. Drew had a look with her to see that she was right, so figuring that maybe they should find out for themselves, the two ran towards it and once they passed through the other side, they found themselves looking out at the ocean, just like how they were doing before they stepped inside for the Rock Smash test. As silence filled the air, the two slowly looked around in awe to make sure that they were seeing this right and that their eyes weren't just playing tricks on them.

"I've got to say, May, your Eevee really knows how to find her way around no matter where we go." Drew commented. As May slowly nodded in agreement, she looked down to see Eevee run over to her and start running her paws against her legs with a smile of excitement on her face that they had made it out of the cave. May showed a bright smile upon seeing her Pokemon and bent down to pick her up and hold her in her arms, while Drew turned his head to notice this and walked over to them.

"Great job, Eevee! You managed to help us find a way out of that cave. Thank you so much!" May happily praised. As Eevee let out a cheer of excitement over this, May grabbed out Eevee's Pokeball to return her back inside before placing it back in her bag. Once that was taken care of, May raised her arms up in the air as she showed a huge smile of joy to finally be back outside. "YES! We made it! We're back out in the open world!" May cheered. Drew nearly jumped from fright at her outburst of excitement before covering both of his ears with his hands until he was certain that she had stopped. Once he could hear nothing else from her, Drew slowly removed his hands from his ears and showed a nervous smile at May's joy.

"May… we were only in that cave for at least a few minutes. I don't understand what about just getting ourselves a bit lost along the way is enough to warrant that kind of response out of you." Drew stated. May turned her head to Drew before letting out a cheerful giggle, while he could only wonder just why she was so amused, and it didn't take very long for him to receive a response.

"I know that. I just always wanted a chance to do something like that, and I'd say that now was the perfect chance." May replied, showing a smile of amusement at her for her outburst. Drew simply stared at her in bewilderment; if that was something she had been holding onto for a while, then he didn't want to imagine just how long she had been keeping that to herself until now. With that boost of energy now of her system, May turned her head up to the sky and let out a content sigh before she turned back around to face Drew. "Ah… now that that's over with… I think it's time we get started on that next test." May commented. Drew showed a smile of amusement as he placed one of his hands on his hips at this comment; they still had a few more tests to do? At this rate, he had a feeling that May was really going to run him ragged.

"Yeah? And which one do you have in mind next?" he asked. He was met with his answer as May grabbed out one of her Pokeballs before tossing it up into the air and causing it to open and release Wartortle, who landed on the surface of the ocean with a large splash just in front of them. As May showed a smile of excitement, Drew could only stare in uneasiness as he seemed to realise where this was headed. "Another test with Wartortle? This can't be good…" Drew worriedly commented to himself. He then turned his head to see May, who had an eager smile on her face before she rushed over and jumped to sit on top of Wartortle's shell, while the Pokemon started to strain as she was trying to keep her Trainer on her back, while May turned around to face Drew as he was watching on.

"Come on, Drew! We don't have any time to waste!" May called, waving to Drew to join him. Drew simply watched in silence before he slowly started to shake his head as he was fully aware that he didn't have a choice in the matter, before he walked over to the two and sat down on top of Wartortle's shell just beside May. Seeing that they were all set, May turned to face the ocean in front of them. "Now that we're ready to go… let's move, Wartortle! Off we go!" May cheered, pointing forward to show the direction they had to go. In response, Wartortle started to rapidly kick her legs and spin her arms in rapid rotation in an effort to get moving, with her slowly drifting across the surface with the two Coordinators sitting on her shell, May with an eager smile and Drew simply remaining silent.

As some time passed, Drew figured that maybe he should ask May about what they were doing, so he turned his head to her. "May?" he asked. May showed an expression of surprise upon hearing Drew's voice and spun around to face him, wondering what was up. "Just as a bit of a heads-up, what HM are we planning on testing next?" Drew asked; he wanted to be on the safe side in case this was anything dangerous so he could come prepared. However, it seemed that preparations didn't seem to come easily to May's mind, as she showed a smile of excitement since she was ready to share this.

"Oh, you're going to love this one, Drew. I know it sounds a bit dangerous, but I know that the game makes it look so fun." May replied. Drew quickly felt uneasiness start to set in as he could tell that May's description was already not a good sign. It didn't seem to get any better, though, once he heard what else May had to say. "The next HM we're testing is…" May then felt her smile started to grow bigger in excitement as she was looking forward to this one. "…Waterfall!"

"W-Waterfall?!" Drew could only exclaim in alarm, feeling an expression of alarm cross his face at this one statement. He then let out an audible gulp, as he was already not looking forward to where this was heading. However, May didn't seem to take notice of his visible display of nervousness as she simply nodded in confirmation.

"That's right! Waterfall was always one of my favourite HMs; I just always enjoy scaling a large waterfall and finding out what's waiting for me at the top; discovering items and new areas I couldn't get to before is so exciting!" May happily explained, with her eager smile growing bigger as she was talking. Just as she had finished, she could hear the sound of rushing water from behind her and turned around in excitement to see their destination. "And here we are!" May stated.

Drew slowly turned his head upward to look at the waterfall and he could only let out a quiet gasp at the sight: the waterfall just in front of them seemed to be as tall as the eye could see, and the pouring water was coming down the hardest he had ever seen. It seemed that he wasn't the only one experiencing intense nerves over this, as Wartortle was staring up at the waterfall with an expression of shock, like she was struggling to register that she had to climb this. After a few moments of silence, Drew slowly looked back down at May. "Uh… May? I don't want to be the one to say that this is a bad idea, but… couldn't you have found a smaller waterfall for us to climb? This seems pretty steep for us…" Drew nervously explained, feeling a few sweat drops start to run down on his head as he looked back up at the waterfall in increasing anxiety. May showed an expression of surprise at this suggestion before she showed a confident smile, seemingly completely unfazed by all of this.

"Oh, don't worry! It was always so fun in the games, so I'm sure we'll be alright." May replied. Before Drew could have a chance to explain to her that video games didn't work the same as in real life, May turned her attention down to Wartortle to get them started. "All right, Wartortle, let's move! Up the waterfall we go!" May called. Wartortle could only stare at the waterfall in stunned silence for a few moments before she seemed to realise that she didn't have a choice, so with this in mind, she slowly swum over to the waterfall and started to rapidly flail her arms and legs against the rushing water in an effort to climb it, while May and Drew held on tight to her shells for dear life, with May letting out cheers of excitement and Drew could only hold on tight and pray that he wouldn't lose his grip. As this was happening, May turned her head to him.

"ISN'T THIS FUN, DREW? I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING TO BE GREAT!" May yelled over the force of the rushing water; she was yelling out at the top of her lungs so she and Drew would be able to hear each other over the sound of the rushing waterfall in their ears. Drew stared in shock for a few moments before he felt an expression of irritation show on his face, as it seemed that he and May had very different definitions of what fun meant, and for him, this wasn't what he had in mind.

"MAY, I'M REALLY GOING TO HAVE A WORD WITH YOU ONCE THIS IS OVER!" Drew yelled out in response. However, it seemed that May didn't seem to hear him as she turned her attention back to the long trek upwards and she let out a loud cheer much to Drew's alarm. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY, MAY! GET US DOWN FROM HERE!" Drew yelled. However, his yells seemed to fall on deaf ears as May was too focused on enjoying herself, while Drew was trying to focus on keeping himself alive until they reached the top.

Since it seemed that getting to the top was going to take a while, Drew could only wonder how many of these he and May had to do, because he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to do anything else once all of this was over.


	9. Undersea Drop

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 9: Undersea Drop**

Before Drew even knew what had happened, he and May had finally reached the top of the waterfall; it felt as though it would take forever, but they finally made it. As they stopped on the top of the cliff, May turned her head to Wartortle, who had collapsed on the ground as she was struggling to catch her breath from all the frantic flailing she had been doing to get all three of them up here to begin with. "Great job, Wartortle! We made it! Sorry for making you do all that hard work, though. You look like you could use a good rest." May commented, showing a nervous smile upon seeing Wartortle's exhaustion. Wartortle simply raised her head up to look at her Trainer and gave her an expression of annoyance like she was thinking 'What gave that away?' May grabbed out Wartortle's Pokeball and promptly returned her into it to give her a good rest before placing it back in her seat, and then she stood up to have a look at the view of the ocean from where they were with a bright smile, and after a few seconds passed, she clenched both fists together in anticipation. "All right! Now there's just one more test to do and we'll have the whole set complete. What do you think, Drew?" May turned to face her rival to hear what he had to say, and she was met with a surprise upon seeing him. "Uh… Drew? Are you okay?" May asked, showing an expression of concern.

As she slowly walked over to Drew to check on him and see if he was okay, it was clear to see that he was looking the complete opposite of okay; he was lying on the back and staring up at the sky with his eyes having gone completely wide and his teeth were clenched as he was struggling to register what he had just been through, with his heart rapidly racing in his chest. Drew then felt his eyes return to normal size once he saw May standing over him with an expression of concern as she was wondering if he was alright, and once he was certain that he was starting to feel his heart return to a regular pace, Drew slowly sat up and turned his head up to May. "May… let's never do something like that ever again! I thought I was done for during all of that!" Drew exclaimed. He then lay back down on the ground to try and get his breath back, while May stared at him in surprise for a few seconds before she showed a nervous smile.

"It sounds to me like someone had a little too much excitement to handle, huh?" May asked. Drew turned his glance to May before slowly nodding in agreement; this whole ordeal had been a bit too much excitement for him to handle as a whole, but he figured that it would be best not to mention that out loud to her. May then showed a bright smile, as she had a feeling that Drew would be looking forward to hearing this from her. "Well, you don't need to worry. We just have one more test to do and we'll be all done!" May said. That statement seemed to be all Drew needed to hear, as he rapidly jumped up on his feet with a smile of excitement, much to May's surprise as she took a step back from shock upon seeing his sudden regain of energy.

"Really? Oh, that's great to hear. And what did you have in mind for this last one?" Drew asked, showing a smile of relief that this whole ordeal was almost over; he couldn't wait to get some rest after having to deal with so much nonsense over the course of one day. He then watched as May walked over to the edge of the waterfall to look out at the ocean, while he followed after her, and he could only stare in puzzlement as he was wondering what she was up to. However, he was quick to regret thinking about it as May spun around to face him with a smile of excitement on her face.

"Come on, Drew. Our last HM on the list… is Dive!" May stated. Drew quickly showed an expression of worry as he already didn't like where May was going with this, and he only seemed to like it less as May turned back around to look out at the view of the ocean. "And you know what that means, right?" May then asked. Drew was silent for a few moments, as he was dreading having to answer that question, so he simply shook his head in response. May was then quick to answer him, as she turned back around to face him with an eager smile on her face. "We're going to jump off the top of this waterfall all the way down to the ocean!" May cheered.

"W-WHAT?!" That was only the proper response Drew could think of for what he had just heard. He slowly made his way over to where May was standing and slowly turned his glance down to see just how high the distance between where they were standing and the ocean, and from what he could see, the distance was fairly large. Just the sight of it was enough to make Drew let out a gasp of alarm before he turned his glance back up to May with an expression of uneasiness, while she stared at him as she was wondering what was wrong. "M-May… I'm not very sure if this is a good idea… We could get ourselves hurt!" Drew worriedly gasped, feeling his whole body starting to shake slightly at just the thought of this idea. May stared at him in surprise for a few moments before she showed a reassuring smile and shook her head in response.

"Oh, don't worry, Drew! Compared to everything else we've done today, this one is easy. And look; I even came prepared!" May replied. She then unstrapped her bag from her waist and opened it up to start searching through it, while Drew watched her in surprise as he was starting to wonder that she had brought along with her. After a few seconds, May raised her hand from the bag to show that she was holding two small mouth Tritons, one for each of them. "I brought these along just in case we needed them. I didn't think we would get to use them until now!" May commented, showing a bright smile as she was glad to see that they would finally have a chance to use them. She then showed one to Drew, who promptly grabbed it and placed it in his mouth while May did the same. With that preparation made, May turned to look out at the ocean. "Well, with all that done, follow me!" May stated. So with this, she leapt off the edge of the cliff towards the water while Drew watched in shock.

"May! Wait!" Drew called. However, his yell fell on deaf ears as May was already drawing close towards the ocean before landing with a splash. Once he saw this, Drew let out a quiet sigh before slowly shaking his head in dismay. "I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?" Drew sighed to himself. Figuring that it would be best to follow May since she was done, Drew jumped off the edge to join her.

Down in the ocean, May had just poked her head out towards the surface and she was letting out a cheerful laugh in excitement. "Wow, wasn't that so much fun, Drew?" she happily asked. However, her smile was quickly replaced with an expression of puzzlement once she realised that her rival was nowhere in sight, and she started to look around as she was wondering where he could be. "Drew? Drew, where are you?" May asked. Her answer quickly came when she suddenly heard the sound of screaming above her, and she turned her glance up to see Drew plummeting towards her. May let out a cry of alarm before she quickly swum out of the way to make room for Drew, while he landed in the ocean and sent water flying up into the air, leaving some to splash against May. After a few seconds, Drew's head surfaced from under the water and May showed a smile of amusement upon seeing him. "There you are! That wasn't too bad, wasn't it?" May asked.

Drew rapidly shook his head to dry his hair a little bit, before he turned to see May watching him with a smile of amusement. "Well… now that you mention it, I guess not. In fact, I think it was a bit of a thrill to do that!" Drew replied, with a smile of excitement slowly showing on his face as he was starting to realise just how fun that really was. May couldn't help herself smiling back, seeing that Drew had really enjoyed himself doing that.

"All right! That means all of our tests are complete! We did it!" May cheered, raising her arms up in the air in excitement that they had managed to get all of her tests done, and in the span of one day, no less. Drew simply showed a smile of amusement watching her excitement, before she turned her glance to him with a smile of gratitude showing on her face. "And Drew? I really have to say… thank you. I don't think I would have been able to get any of these done without your help." May stated.

Drew could only stare in surprise at this statement; as far as he could tell, May didn't really need his help in the slightest. She had been able to get all of these tests done on her own, so why did he have to be dragged along for the ride? However, seeing just how happy she seemed to be to have him by her side, he figured that it would be not to ruin this for her. So he simply showed a bright smile in response. "It was nothing, May. I guess you needed someone to help you make sure these all got done as quickly as they did." Drew replied.

May showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's get a move on back to Ecruteak City. I know we'll have a lot of fun telling Harley and Soledad about everything we did today!" she suggested. Drew simply nodded in agreement with this idea; he had a feeling that he and May were going to have a great idea telling their partners about everything they had done together, and also how much he had been through in the short span of one day.


	10. The Chaos Conclusion

**The Mechanics of Hidden Machines**

 **Chapter 10: The Chaos Conclusion**

Sometime later, as evening was arriving across Johto, May and Drew had arrived back at the Ecruteak City Pokemon Centre and May was telling Harley and Soledad about everything she and Drew had done as the group of four were sitting together at one of the tables and enjoying their dinner. "And then we had a large horde of Zubat chase us just after the lights went on in there! We had completely forgotten about how often Zubat tend to show up in any cave, so it was quite a shock to say the least." May explained, with an eager smile as she was sharing the whole story while Drew simply watched her in amusement while Harley and Soledad were listening to her. As the latter two in question stared in silence for a few moments, Soledad was the first to speak up as she showed a smile of fascination.

"Well, it sounds like you two really kept yourselves busy today. I have to admit, I didn't expect for that simple idea of yours to result in the two of you doing so much." Soledad commented. May showed a bright smile and nodded in agreement, as she had so much fun during the entirety of this day while doing her tests.

"That's right! It was so much fun!" May happily replied. She then turned her head to Drew with a grateful smile on her face. "And I really have to thank Drew for his help. I doubt I would have been able to get my tests without him." May added. Drew simply stared at her in surprise before showing with an expression of annoyance; he still felt as though he didn't have to be dragged along for the ride, and he wouldn't have had to deal with all the nonsense he had been through today thanks to being May's assistant for all these tests.

"I still think you would have been able to do all of this on your own…" Drew muttered to himself. He was quick to take notice that May was showing him an expression of puzzlement, like she was wondering if he had just said something, and he nearly jumped from alarm once he realised this before he showed a nervous smile. "Uh… what I meant to say was…" Drew was silent for a few moments before he showed a bright smile. "You're welcome, May. I was more than happy to help you out." Drew replied. May felt a bright smile quickly return to her face at this reply, and she was quick to jump up on her feet much to the group's surprise, and she made her way out of her seat before turning around to face the others.

"Well, now that all of the tests of the HMs have been done, you guys know what that means?" May asked. The others turned their glances to each other in silence for a few moments, before they looked back at May and slowly shook their heads, wanting to know that she had planned. However, they were quick to regret wanting to find out as May quickly showed a smile of excitement before jumping up in the air. "That means that next it's time for me to try out the TMs! And I'll have a long list to get done. Who wants to help me out?" May asked, turning her head to look at the others as she was awaiting to hear who would be willing to help her out for her next set of tests.

Silence filled the room for at least a few seconds before Harley and Soledad slowly turned their heads to Drew; there was no doubt in their heads about who would be willing to assist May. Drew turned his head to realise that the others were looking at him, before he let out a sigh of dismay and buried his face in his hands. "Ugh… why me…?" Drew quietly asked, his voice muffled underneath his hands. May quickly showed a smile of excitement upon realising that she would have Drew's help again before she rushed over to him.

"All right! Thanks so much, Drew! This is going to be the best!" May cheered. With this, she started to make her way over to her room to grab her list of TMs she had written down so she could show him what they needed to get done. Once she was gone, Drew could only let out a loud groan of dismay, seemingly realising just what he was in for now.

"How do I get myself into these messes…?" Drew quietly asked himself. He had a feeling that by the time all of this was over, he was going to make sure he kept his distance from May as much as possible, because at the rate this was going, she was really going to wear him out. He knew that she was enjoying this, but for him, this was just far too much.

But then again, since when was understanding how things worked between video games and real life ever easy?


End file.
